Advice on hotel that's disappeared from Booking.com with bad TA reviews

gawa75

Hi folks, 

My stomach is turning with what has happened today. 

Four months ago I booked a lovely looking apartment in Salerno via Booking.com. The dates for the stay are next week. Today I went back on to Booking to remind myself of the accommodation but the place has taken itself off the site. I contacted Booking.com and they confirmed it is no longer with them but they rang the place and they are still expecting my stay. I wondered why it was no longer there, so went to TripAdvisor and the reviews for the place in the 6 weeks are shocking. All now 1 star reviews. 

I paid in full up front via Booking.com but the free cancellation date has passed (1/1/26) - Booking.com emailed the accommodation to ask about a refund but they replied saying the venue is not willing to refund my full payment. 

So basically I'm sick with worry that I am about to walk into a dump of a place (according to the recent TA reviews) and will lose all my money. 

Can anyone advise what I should do? Many thanks. 

eskbanker

It sounds like you don't have any option to cancel for a refund in advance, so your best bet would probably be to familiarise yourself with alternatives in the area, should your booked accommodation not meet the description on arrival, so that you can push Booking.com to move you if necessary.

TELLIT01

Accommodation removes itself from 3rd party sites for many reasons, they aren't necessarily kicked off by Booking.com.  With it being so close to your travel dates you seem to have little option but to travel and go there.  The bad reviews may not be genuine.  

A place we have stayed many times has removed itself from all 3rd party sites because it gets more bookings than it needs direct.

strawb_shortcake

What's the nature of the reviews? A hotel I'm staying in during April had had a flurry of bad reviews as they've introduced a €70 per night security deposit and it's not being refunded immediately. I don't think it's been well communicated but easyjet have let me know and given me the option to book a different hotel 

gawa75

Thanks, I'll familiarise myself with nearby alternative accommodation should it be required. The reviews detail standard of cleanliness and maintenance of room. My beef will be with Booking.com if the room doesn't live up to the photos which were once visible on its site. Thanks again

Westin

gawa75 said:

Thanks, I'll familiarise myself with nearby alternative accommodation should it be required. The reviews detail standard of cleanliness and maintenance of room. My beef will be with Booking.com if the room doesn't live up to the photos which were once visible on its site. Thanks again

The property supplies the photos and descriptive copy for the listing. Booking.com can't audit check these.

user1977

Westin said:

gawa75 said:

Thanks, I'll familiarise myself with nearby alternative accommodation should it be required. The reviews detail standard of cleanliness and maintenance of room. My beef will be with Booking.com if the room doesn't live up to the photos which were once visible on its site. Thanks again

The property supplies the photos and descriptive copy for the listing. Booking.com can't audit check these.

And booking.com is merely an agent anyway - the buck stops with the accommodation provider.

eskbanker

user1977 said:

Westin said:

gawa75 said:

Thanks, I'll familiarise myself with nearby alternative accommodation should it be required. The reviews detail standard of cleanliness and maintenance of room. My beef will be with Booking.com if the room doesn't live up to the photos which were once visible on its site. Thanks again

The property supplies the photos and descriptive copy for the listing. Booking.com can't audit check these.

And booking.com is merely an agent anyway - the buck stops with the accommodation provider.

Booking.com would need to be in the loop for genuinely 'not as described' issues, where moving elsewhere would be the required resolution:

Upon arrival, the room/accommodation I was given did not match what I booked. What should I do?

Please go to the Help Centre. You'll likely need to send our Customer Service team a screenshot of the mismatched information and if you had to pay any extra fees, a receipt as proof of payment.

https://www.booking.com/tpi_faq.en-gb.html

But yes, if the property needs more cleaning or the like then chances are the property owner would be expected to resolve the issue, so it will come down to the extent of any non-compliance.